Can brands really inspire cultural change?

India is a culture that is renowned for its conservatism towards gender roles, which makes Proctor & Gamble’s new campaign for their Ariel brand even more powerful. Results from a P&G survey of men, women and children in India showed that 2/3 children and 70% of men believed that household chores were a woman’s responsibility. A fact Indian commercials have reinforced for years.

This new ad pushes for change. It shows how fathers and husbands can take small steps (like doing laundry) to create more equal homes. Winning the ‪#‎GlassLion at the 2015 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for earlier work on this campaign, it beautifully and sensitively depicts what modern life is like for working mums.

Whether this has the potential to help change attitudes is yet to be seen, but as a piece of brand communication we saw more than a little of ourselves in this ad and on that level alone it works brilliantly to endear us to the brand. Why? Because it felt real not contrived. Because it didn’t preach but inspired. And because we appreciated all the detail and nuances it portrayed.